Alpine Cavi Technique: 9 eee MCL (e() SORT EL} y Efficient Caving Wi - Georges Marbach Tua Lce ma Col acdAlpine Caving TechniquesWARNING! CAVING IS DANGEROUS, and involves the risk of serious injury or death. A commitment ‘to safe caving practices, a thorough understanding of the equipment used, and mastery of the techniques involved can greatly reduce, but will never eliminate, the risks inher- ent in the sport, It is the caver's responsibility to understand these risks and obtain qualified instruction from experienced cavers before entering the cave. The authors and publishers accept no responsibility for damage or injury resulting from use of the techniques or equipment described in this book. Alpine Caving Techniques — A Complete Guide to Safe and Efficient Caving by Georges Marbach and Bernard Tourte English Edition, 2002 ‘Translated and adapted by Melanie Alspaugh © Speleo Projects, Caving Publications International, 2002 Title of the Original French Edition: Techniques de la Spéléologie Alpine © 2000 Expé, BP-5, F-38680 Pont-en-Royans All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Publisher: Urs Widmer Text Editor: Melanie Alspaugh Photos and maps individually credited Illustrations: Jean-Yves Decottignies Cover photograph: Fantastic Pit, Pigeon Mountain, Georgia, USA by Kevin Downey Back cover: River cave in Sichuan Province, China by Gavin Newman Original Graphic Design: Béatrice & Luc-Henri Fage, adapted by Urs Widmer Prepress: Urs Widmer, Melanie Alspaugh Print: Druckerei Schiler AG, Biel Jacket finish: Printlack, Schwadernau Binding: Grollimund AG, Reinach Contact: Speleo Projects, Caving Publications International Lettenweg 118, CH-4123 Allschwil, Switzerland E-mail: info@speleoprojects.com SPELEO PROJECTS, Printed in Switzerland ISBN 3-908495-10-5Georges Marbach - Bernard Tourte Alpine Caving Techniques A Complete Guide to Safe and Efficient Caving First English Edition Translated and adapted from the 3 French edition by Melanie Alspaugh Illustrations by Jean-Yves Decottignies SPELEO PROJECTSGeorges Marbach has devoted his life to cave exploration, and even made it his profession. He founded the equip- ment company Expé in 1974, which he managed until 2001. For the past 23 years he has designed 2 TSA caving products and in doing so developed a thorough knowledge of caving equipment. He has only rarely left his favorite caving arena, the Alps, to participate in expeditions to Papua New Guinea, Turkey, and Patagonia Georges Marbach headed the French Caving School (Ecole Francaise de Spéléologie), for which he remains an instructor. From his first years caving with the Seine Spéléo- Club, he has had a passion for perfecting personal caving equipment, and was actively involved in developing French single rope techniques in the La Tronche Spéléo-Club near Grenoble. He began writ- ing in 1973 with the first edition of Techniques de la Spéléologie Alpine. The present English edition is taken from the most recent third edition of the same book. Bernard Tourte spends most of his professional life underground. He spends his weeks as a caving instructor, organi- Zing and leading courses for the French Caving School and French Cave Rescue, and going as far as Spain, Lebanon and Bulgaria to teach classes. He spends his weekends exploring the caves of his native Pyrenees. He still finds time to teach in reg- ular training sessions for Work at Heights. He spends his vacations travelling to the four corners of the Earth ~ from Mexico to Papua New Guinea, from Irian Jaya to Patagonia, from Malaysia to Austria and Thailand - searching for new caves and new adventures. Bernard Tourte is a national instructor with a French certification in caving and canyoning, He is a technical advisor to the French Cave Rescue, as well as caving equipment designer for the Spanish company MTDE. Through his participation in the third edition of this book, Bernard has been able to share his rich knowledge acquired from fifteen years of caving practice and many diverse experiences.Acknowledgements to the 3" French Edition The authors wish to thank the following persons who contributed in various ways to the making of this book Danie! Chailloux, Marléne and Laurent Garnier, Fabien Hobléa and Eric Sanson who helped en- rich the technical content by sharing their ideas. Frangoise and Genevieve Magnan for their back cover photo as well as others used to create drawings throughout the book. ‘Agnes Bernhart for help in preparing and adapt- ing illustrations from photos. Patrick Degouve for his permission to use a photo- graphic document. Serge Caillault, Luc-Henri Fage, Francis Le Guen, Jean-Francois Pernette, Eric Sanson, and Jean- Paul Sounier for their photo contributions. Paul Petz! for his gracious permission to reproduce several graphics belonging to Petzl SA Michel Bernard, Agnés Bernhart, Georges Castello, Bernard Pelletanne, Olivier Ubiergo and Thierry Valencourt, who modeled for many of the line drawings appearing herein. Daniela Spring and Ségoléne Vigneron for their help in reviewing the text. Béatrice and Luc-Henri Fage, whose help and advice went well beyond mere technical contri- butions. Translator’s Note and Acknowledgements Some readers will notice a lack of references to oth- er caving manuals or articles. This point is not ad- dressed in the original French edition(s), most like- ly because the French caving community is already familiar with the history and origin of this book and the background of its authors (see Foreword). There are only three references in the Third Edi- tion bibliography; this is because Techniques de /a Spéléologie Alpine |S the reference, at least in the French caving world. Perhaps this is why some call it “the Bible” of caving techniques manuals. Mar- bach and his co-authors and colleagues in the French Caving Federation and French Caving School helped invent and develop many of the techniques and standards described here, and they continue to do so today. That said, there remained the challenge of trans- lating a French caving manual into English, and ensuring that this “European” manual remains rel- evant to North American readers. Any caver who has caved in different regions or countries will agree that techniques and equipment differ around the world. This book presents horizontal and vertical caving techniques in detail, and partic- ularly the single rope techniques developed in Eu- rope. These are undoubtedly relevant - and often similar, if not identical - to the vertical techniques used by non-Europeans. However, there are a few exceptions. Working closely with Marbach, | have adapted some parts of the text in the hopes of making it as complete and relevant as possible to all readers. Those who are familiar with the 2000 edition will thus notice adaptations to the sections ‘on descenders, racks and rack use, LEDs and seat harness pathology. Likewise, | have used footnotes throughout to provide complementary informa- tion on various points. Non-European (and particularly American) read- ers will likely encounter techniques or ideas here that are not only new to them, but that may seem a bit shocking, They may even question the “accu- racy" of a statement or the soundness of a tech-nique. The techniques and standards presented here have been tried and tested (or used and abused) by competent cavers - underground and in the labs - and have proven safe and effective in practice, But the intent of this book is not to convince the reader of THE right technique; it is to share knowledge and hopefully widen the field of discourse. As Marbach often points out, it is ulti- mately up to the individual to decide what works best. Another challenge relates to the diversity of the English language, and particularly the diversity of caving terminology. Churchill once said that we English-speakers are often separated by a common language. Though this rarely interferes with com- prehension, there isa lot of variation between Brit- ish, Australian and American use, and I've noticed this particularly in the field of caving. Correct terms for one group may be awkward or even “techni- cally incorrect” for the other. Example: a vertical passage requiring a rope for progression may be called a shaft, a pitch, a pit, a hole or a pot, de- pending on where you live and cave. Likewise, the mechanical device we use for climbing up this ver- tical passage may be called an ascender, a rope grab, a rope clamp, a jammer or a jumar, and the act of going down this passage may be rappelling, descending, or abseiling. | hoped to make this edi- tion as relevant and complete as possible for all English readers, and have tried to include all rele- vant terms when introducing them. Thereafter, I've tended to choose the American (or Texan) terms that I use most naturally This English edition would not be complete without the contributions of several helpful and enthusiastic persons. All proofed the text at vari- ous stages of its development and offered their suggestions on a multitude of technical, linguistic and content-related points. | am therefore eternal- ly grateful to David Elliot, Yvonne Droms, Mark Tremblay, Rebecca Jones, Karlin Meyers and Rob- ert Vocke for all their help. | also wish to thank Georges Marbach for the endless hours of atten- tive proofing and discussion, and for his thorough collaboration on every aspect of this English edi- tion. Thanks also go to Alex Sproul for his input, Alan Warild, Hanna Barbara, Lea Guidon and Pas- ‘ale Gisin for additional proofing, On Rope for per- mission to adapt additional rack drawings, and Jean-Yves Decottignies for additional line draw- ings. Melanie Alspaugh, Allschwil, 2002 The English edition of Alpine Caving Techniques is dedicated to the memory of Joe Ivy.